Ohio:  Its Past, Its Location, Its Government

The state of Ohio is the focus for the fourth grade.  Students learn about the geography, history, government and economy of their state.  They learn about issues and ways that citizens participate in Ohio’s government.  Students develop their research skills through individual and group activities.  A written informational report is required.

History Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Construct time lines to demonstrate an understanding of units of time and chronological order.
2. Describe the cultural patterns that are evident in North America today as a result of exploration, colonization and conflict.
3. Explain how new developments led to the growth of the United States.

Fourth Grade History Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Chronology

1. Construct time lines with evenly spaced intervals for years, decades and centuries to show the order of significant events in Ohio history (e.g., frontier era, early settlements, industrial expansion).

Settlement

2. Describe the earliest settlements in Ohio, including those of prehistoric peoples.
3. Explain the causes and effects of the Revolutionary War, the frontier wars of the 1790’s (including the Battle of Fallen Timbers), and the Civil War on Native Americans in Ohio and the United States.

Growth

4. Explain how Ohio progressed from territory to statehood, including the French and Indian War and the terms of the Northwest Ordinance.
5. Explain how rivers, canals, the building of the National Road and railroads changed settlement patterns in Ohio and Ohio’s economic and political status in the United States.
6. Explain the importance of inventors such as the Wright Brothers, Charles Kettering, Garrett Morgan, Granville Woods and Thomas Edison.

People in Societies Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Compare practices and products of North American cultural groups.
2. Explain the reasons people from various cultural groups came to North America and the consequences of their interactions with each other.

Fourth Grade People in Societies Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Cultures

1. Describe the cultural practices and products of various groups who have settled in Ohio over time:
1. the Paleo Indians, Archaic Indians, Woodland Indians (Adena and Hopewell) and Late Prehistoric Indians (Fort Ancient)
2. historic Indians of Ohio (Ottawa, Wyandot, Mingo, Miami, Shawnee and Delaware)
3. European immigrants
4. Amish and Appalachian populations
5. African-Americans
6. recent immigrants from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Interaction

2. Describe the impact of the expansion of European settlements on Native Americans in Ohio.
3. Explain the reasons people came to Ohio, including:
1. opportunities in agriculture, mining and manufacturing
2. family ties
3. freedom from political and religious oppression.
4. Compare and contrast customs, traditions and needs of Ohio’s various cultural groups. *

Geography Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Use map elements or coordinates to locate physical and human features of North America.
2. Identify the physical and human characteristics of places and regions in North America.
3. Identify and explain ways people have affected the physical environment of North America and analyze the positive and negative consequences.
4. Analyze ways that transportation and communication relate to patterns of settlement and activity.

Fourth Grade Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Location

1. Use a linear scale to measure the distance between places on a map.
2. Use cardinal and intermediate directions to describe the relative location of places and use a number grid to locate places on a map.
1. review the location of the Prime Meridian and equator on a map*
2. review the location of continents and oceans*
3. introduce basic concepts of latitude and longitude*
4. identify map key and map symbols. *
3. Describe the location of Ohio relative to other states and countries.
4. Use maps to identify the location of major physical and human features of Ohio, including:
1. Lake Erie
2. rivers
3. plains
4. the Appalachian Plateau
5. bordering states
6. the capital city
7. other major cities

Places and Regions

5. Describe and compare the landforms, climates, population, vegetation and economic characteristics of places and regions.
6. Identify manufacturing, agricultural, mining and forestry regions in Ohio.
7. Explain how resources, transportation and location influenced the development of cities and industries in Ohio, including major industries such as oil, steel, rubber and glass.

Human Environmental Interaction

8. Identify how environmental processes (i.e., glaciation and weathering) and characteristics (landforms, bodies of water, climate, vegetation) influence human settlement and activity in Ohio.
9. Identify ways that people have affected the physical environment of Ohio, including:
1. use of wetlands
2. use of forests
3. building farms, towns and transportation systems
4. using fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides
5. building dams.

Movement

10. Use elevation, natural resource and road maps to answer questions about patterns of settlement, economic activity and movement.

Economic Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Explain the opportunity costs involved in the allocation of scarce productive resources.
2. Explain why entrepreneurship, capital goods, technology, specialization and division of labor are important in the production of goods and services.
3. Explain how competition affects producers and consumers in a market economy and why specialization facilitates trade.

Fourth Grade Economics Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Scarcity and Resource Allocation

1. Identify the productive resources needed to produce a good or service and suggest opportunity costs for the resources involved.
1. describe the importance of each factor of production (land, labor, capital, entrepreneurship) in relation to a good or service*
2. Explain how the availability of productive resources in Ohio promotes specialization in the production of goods and services and leads to trade.

Production, Distribution and Consumption

3. Explain how entrepreneurs organize productive resources to produce gods and services and that they seek to make profits by taking risks.

Markets

4. Explain ways in which individuals and households obtain and use income.
5. Explain why people in Ohio specialize in what they produce and then trade with others, which then increases the amount of goods and services.
1. Explain the concepts of consumer and producer*
6. Explain why many jobs in Ohio depend on markets in other countries and why Ohio is a market for goods and services from other countries.

Government Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Identify the responsibilities of the branches of the United States government and explain why they are necessary.
2. Give examples of documents that specify the structure of state and national governments in the United States and explain how these documents foster self-government in a democracy.

Fourth Grade Government Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Role of Government

1. Explain major responsibilities of each of the three branches of government in Ohio:
1. the legislative branch, headed by the General Assembly, makes state laws
2. the executive branch, headed by the governor, carries out and enforces laws made by the General Assembly
3. the judicial branch, headed by the Ohio Supreme Court, interprets and applies the law.
2. Explain why elections are used to select leaders and decide issues.

Rules and Laws

3. Explain the purpose of a democratic constitution:
1. to provide a framework for a government
2. to limit the power of government
3. to define the authority of elected officials
4. Explain that the Ohio Constitution tells how the state government should be organized and that it guarantees the rights of individuals.
5. Identify the purposes of state and local government: *
1. to protect the health and safety of citizens
2. to provide and maintain public services through collection of taxes
3. to provide a system of justice
4. to protect the rights of the individual
5. to promote the common welfare.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Explain how citizens take part in civic life in order to promote the common good.
2. Identify rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the United States that are important for preserving democratic government.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Participation

1. Describe the ways in which citizens can promote the common good and influence their government, including:
1. voting
2. communicating with officials
3. participating in civic and service organizations
4. performing voluntary service.

Rights and Responsibilities

2. Explain why personal responsibilities (e.g., taking advantage of the opportunity to be educated) and civic responsibilities (e.g., obeying the law and respecting the rights of others) are important.
3. Explain the importance of leadership and public service.
4. Explain why characteristics such as respect for the rights of others, fairness, reliability, honesty, wisdom and courage are desirable qualities in people citizens elect as their leaders.

Social Studies Skills and Methods Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Obtain information from a variety of primary and secondary sources using the component parts of the source.
2. Use a variety of sources to organize information and draw inferences.
3. Communicate social studies information using graphs and tables.
4. Use problem-solving skills to make decisions individually and in groups.

Fourth Grade Social Studies Skills and Methods Indicators

By the end of fourth grade, students will be able to:

Obtaining Information

1. Obtain information about state issues from a variety of print and electronic sources, and determine the relevance of the information to a research topic:
1. atlases
2. encyclopedias
3. dictionaries
4. newspapers
5. multimedia/electronic sources
2. Use a glossary and index to locate information.
3. Use primary and secondary sources to answer questions about Ohio history.
4. Describe how archaeologists and historians study and interpret the past.

Thinking and Organizing

5. Identify main ideas and supporting details from factual information.
6. Distinguish between fact and opinion.
7. Read and interpret pictographs, bar graphs, line graphs and tables.
8. Formulate a question to focus research.

Communicating Information

9. Communicate relevant information in a written report that:
1. has an organizing structure*
2. has a beginning that “grabs” the reader’s attention*
3. develops a controlling idea*
4. includes appropriate facts and details*
5. excludes extraneous and/or inappropriate information*
6. provides a sense of closure*
7. includes acknowledgement of sources. * 

Problem Solving

10. Use a problem-solving/decision-making process that includes:
1. identifying the problem
2. gathering information
3. listing and considering options
4. considering advantages and disadvantages of options
5. choosing and implementing a solution
6. developing criteria for judging effectiveness